Internal-combustion engine



April 28, 1931. w. F. Ross INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed May 2, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Maw April 28, 1931. w, 055 1,802,577

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed May 2, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ethane QR E i N vwenko't w rms,

Patented Apr. 28, 1931 UNITED STATES WALTER IE. ROSS, OF DETROIT MICHIGAN INTERNAL-COMBUSTIOLT ENGINE Application filed May 2, 1927. Serial No. 188,111.

The present invention pertains to improvements in internal combustion engines, and the principal objects are to increase the thoroughness of the scavenging, decrease the duration of the heat interval in the cylinder, effect stratification of the fuel mixture and the supercharge of compressed air, and to increase dependability by enabling the engine to function independently of the supercharger,

The scavenging is accomplished by a novel stage in the cycle of the engine, consisting in passing a current of air directly through the cylinder whereby hot gases are completely exhausted and the efficiency of the scavenging is 100%. The elimination of the exhaust in this manner reduces the period of time occupied by the presence of the hot gases in the cylinder, as a result of which the cooling of the engine is an easier problem than usual and may in fact be solved by the use of external air currents in a simple and practical way.

The stratification which has been 'mentioned above is effective in maintaining a charge of fuel gas in the region of the spark plug and of suflicient richness to promote satisfactory ignition. At the same time the supercharge of air, required for complete combustion of the fuel, is located at a different level, but is nevertheless present for its intended object. 4

Furtheigthe supercharging-is entirely independent of the intake of fuel, so that accidental'defective operation will not prevent the engine from operating on fuel mixture without a supercharge.

Other properties and advantages of the new construction will appear as the description thereof proceeds. The invention is fully disclosed in the following description and in the accompanying drawings, in which V Figure 1 is a vertical section of a cylinder constructed according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22of Figure 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical elevation of the invention showing a diagram of a means for controllim the supercharger inletand the carburetor o D I inlet-1n synchromsm;

fuel mixture to the cylinder.

Fig. 4 is a detail section on the line 44 of Figure 1;

Fig. 5 is a diagram of the operation of the device as a four cycle engine; and

Fig. 6 is a similar diagram of the conventional operation of a-four cycle Liberty motor.

Reference to these views willnow be made by use of like characters which are employed to designate correspondingparts throughout.

In Figure 1 the numeral 1 indicates a cylinder of usual construction in which a piston 2 is slidably mounted in the usual manner. At the upper end of the cylinder are provided pipes 3 and 4 terminating in valve seats 5 and 6 respectively. A valve C cooperates with the seat 5 and is carried by a stem 7 suitably accommodated in the casting. In 'like'mannor the seat 6 is provided with a valve D having a stem 8 which also sildes in the casting. A spark plug 9 is mounted in any convenient way at the top of the cylinder.

The base of the cylinder has a peripheral series of ports A surrounded by an exterior channel wall 10 which forms a chamber 11 having an outlet 12 as clearly shown in Fig ure 1. The ported part of the cylinder is also surrounded by a rotatable sleeve 13 having ports 14L adapted to register with the ports A while the solid parts of the sleeve are of sufficient size to close the ports A when brought over the same. The sleeve 13 rests on an angular band 15 surrounding the cylinder and is formed with a worm gear 16 meshing with a worm 17 suitably journaled in the fixed parts of the engine andby means of which the sleeve is driven to control the ports A.

The pipe 3 communicates with the carburetor and is therefore adapted to supply the The pipe 4, although occupying the position of the usual exhaust valve, communicates with the atmosphere and functions for exhaust purposes in an incidental or secondary way as will presently appear. The major part of the exhaust is relieved through the ports A and 14 and the chamber 11,12,

At the bottom of the cylinder is formed an external sleeve 18 communicating with the cylinder through a duct 19. The sleeve contains a sleeve valve 20 having a duct 21 adapted to register with the duct 19. The valve B is connected to the supercharger for supplying compressed air to the cylinder for the purpose of increasing the weight of charge and thus enabling complete combustion of the fuel. It will be apparent that the number of ports in the sleeve valve may be increased, and that if the sleeve is timed for registration between the ports and the ducts at the proper moments, it will therefore not be necessary to turn the valve 180 for each communication with the cylinder. By the provision of several ports in this manner, the wear on the valve and heat generated in its operation will be considerably reduced. It will also be understood that in the case of a plural cylinder engine, a single longitudinal sleeve may contain a sleeve valve formed with ports or a series of ports properly spaced longitudinally of the valve for communication with the corresponding cylinders. Also, the same functioning can be secured with any other type or combination of types or valve instead of the particular combinations of sleeve and poppet valves shown.

The ports A and 19 are diagonal to the axis of the cylinder to be more easily passed by the overlapped ends of the piston rings.

The sloped lateral walls of the ports prevent the overlapped ends from penetrating the ports and striking against the upper and lower edges. This construction reduces Wear, gives smoother operation, prevents breakage of piston rings, and offers better resistance to stress in the cylinder walls.

The diagram in Figure 5 illustrates the operation of the device as a four cycle engine.

The timing may be varied widely but I am taking merely a typical case based on the usual Liberty timing. The ports A are opened by the piston at 485 or at 155 after the ignition. The expanded and exploded gases commence to issue through the ports, and the valve D leading to the atn'iosphere opens at 4:95 whereupon a current, caused by the suction created by the velocity of the out-rushing gases, flows through the cylin der until the piston closes the ports A at 595. This current etl'ects thorough scavenging of the cylinder in the manner already stated. Also, the rotary control sleeve may be eliminated for this'particular cycle due to the fact that the ports A are controlled by the piston. The valve D however remains open after the closing of the ports A, and the upward stroke of the piston at this time expels the residue exhaust gas, as well as the major portion of the atmospheric air, through the valve D. Shortly after the beginning of the downward or suction stroke of the piston, the air valve D closes at about 8 and is followed immediately by the opening of the fuel valve C at 10. The supercharger valve B opens at 220 and is followed 5 later by the closing of the fuel valve C, so that the periods of intake of the fuel and supercharge are substantially non-concur rent and this results in stratification or only slight inter-mixture of the two charges, whereby a rich fuel mixture is maintained at the spark plug to effect proper ignition. The supercharger valve B closes at 235, compres sion continues, and ignition takes place at 330.

It will be seen from the diagram that the piston opens the ports A at the proper instant and closes them at the beginning of the upward stroke and when it is desired to cut off the supercharger.

The stratification of the fuel mixture and the super-charge is also assisted by the fact that the latter is injected at a different level than the inlet of the fuel.

The construction and the cycle described above result in several advantages in the supercharger operation. First, the supercharger is entirely independent of the carburetor, so that if the supercharger fails, the engine will continue to operate normally, although at somewhat lower efliciency. This feature is especially important in aeroplane installations. Further, the supercharger may be operated at less than the usual speed required in present devices, since a portion of the air usually required for thorough combustion is obtained from the valves 0 and D. Thus, the capacity of the supercharger or the speed thereof may be considerably reduced.

Another important advantage applying to the four cycle operation is the short period that the exploded gases remain in the cylinder. The operation of the four cycle Liberty motor is shownin Figure 6 which is to be read in the manner described in connection with Figureb. The important point for the present purpose is that the heat interval, 1. e., the duration of exploded gases in the cylinder, extends over a period of 398 of the cycle of the Liberty motor, While in the present case the period is only 165 as will readily be understood after a consideration of Figure 5. This significant reduction in the heatperiod facilitates the cooling of the engine, and in fact renders air cooling a practical possibility.

It is to be recognized that the required speed of the sleeve 13 may be comparatively low since only a fraction of a rotation thereof is required for each cycle. The actual speed of the sleeve will be determined in accordance with the number of ports provided therein and in the cylinder. The fraction of rotation required for each cycle is unity divided by the number of ports in the sleeve.

Figure 3 illustrates a common control for regulating the inlets to the supercharger 25 and the carburetor 26 in synchronism, whereb a definite relation between these two cli arges may be maintained at all times. The butterfly valves 27 and 28 of the supercharger and carburetor respectively are perpendicular to each other when closed and are equipped with rigid arms 27 and 28' connected by a link 29. The valve 28 has another rigid arm 30 from which extends a link 31 leading to an appropriate pedal or manual control device within reach of the operator. The unity of control of these two parts does not render them mutually dependent, so that if the supercharger should for any reason fail in its operation, the carburetor will nevertheless continue to supply the cylinders and enable them to operate without a supercharge.

Although the invention has been described in connection with four cycle operation, it will be understood that the essentials of the invention may be retained in two cycle op eration by modifying the timing accordingly. Also, various alterations and modifications of the illustrated construction may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as indicated by the appended claims.

hat I claim is 1. In an internal combustion engine, a cylinder having a timed exhaust valve, an air valve, a fuel inlet valve, and a supercharger inlet independent of said air valve, fuel inlet and exhaust valves, and a supercharger connected to said inlet.

2. In an internal combustion engine, a cylinder having a timed exhaust valve at one end thereof, an air valve, a fuel inlet valve at the other end thereof, a supercharger inlet directly adjacent said exhaust valve and independent of said air valve and a supercharger connected to said inlet.

3. In an internal combustion engine, a cylinder having a timed exhaust valve at the lower end thereof, an air valve, a fuel inlet valve at the upper end thereof, a supercharger inlet directly adjacent said exhaust valve and independent of said a1r valve and a supercharger connected to said inlet.

4- In an internal combustion engine, a cyl inder having a spark plug at one end thereof, a fuel valve at said end, an air valve also at said end, an independent supercharger inlet at the other end, a supercharger connected to said inlet, and exhaust means associated with said cylinder.

5. In an internal combustion engine, a cylinder having a spark plug at one end thereof, a fuel valve at said end, an air valve also at said end, an independent supercharger inlet at the other end, a supercharger connected to said inlet, and exhaust means provided at said remaining end.

6. In an internal combustion engine, a cylinder having a spark plug at one end thereof, a fuel valve at said end, an air valve also at said end, an independent supercharger inlet i at the other end, a supercharger connected said inlet, a peripheral series of exhaust ports formed in said cylinder, adjacent said supercharger inlet, and a rotary valve for controlling said ports.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

WVALTER F. ROSS. 

